The Peeler’s Jacket

Reel, G, traditional Irish
Also known as The Flannel Jacket
TrailJams Tune of the Week: March 9, 2025

An appealing reel that has been in the Irish music tradition for well over a century.

“Peeler,” along with “Bobby,” are nicknames for a British policeman. Both of those terms come from the name of Sir Robert Peel (1788 – 1850), the founder of London’s Metropolitan Police.

Caution: the first measure of The Peeler’s Jacket is the same as the first measure of Sheehan’s Reel. It is very easy to get confused about which tune you are playing.

Recordings

• Video – Kevin Burke: The Peeler’s Jacket / The Flax In Bloom / Eileen Curran – from the album Up Close
• Video – Chris Smith: The Peeler’s Jacket/The Flogging/The Abbey – from the album Coyotebanjo (with Roger Landes and Randal Bays)
• Audio – Comhaltas: Peeler’s Jacket – session recording, from the album Foinn Seisiún Volume 2

Sheet Music

As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.

How many repeats of The Peeler’s Jacket? The play-along track here has the tune repeated three times. But if you listen to the reference recordings of Kevin Burke, Brian Conway, and Chris Smith playing the tune in a set, they only play it twice. The tune is very repetitive, so playing it twice through, rather than three times, is a good choice.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Jacket Reel Jig Set: The Peeler’s Jacket (G) / The Torn Jacket (D) / The Virginia Reel (D)
• The Peeler’s Jacket / The Bag of Spuds / The Galway Rambler
• The Peeler’s Jacket / The Torn Jacket
• The Peeler’s Jacket / Jenny’s Picking Cockles
• Donegal Reel Page / The Peeler’s Jacket / Trip to Durrow

References and Resources

For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.

• More Recordings
  • Video – Brian Conway: The Peeler’s Jacket/Lucy Campbell/The Humours of Westport – from the album Consider the Source
  • Audio – Stephen Ducke (Tradschool): The Peeler’s Jacket (Reel) – played on tin whistle. From the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
• Books
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 2 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book & audio – Grey Larsen: 300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments
  • Book – Francis O’Neill and James O’Neill: O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (published 1903)
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Sean Cunningham (whistletutor): Tin Whistle Lesson – The Peeler’s Jacket – video lesson with part-by-part breakdown and suggestions for ornamentation.
• Additional Resources
  • Web page: The Session: The Peeler’s Jacket (reel) – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information.
  • Web page: irishtune.info: Peeler’s Jacket – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng.